Real Madrid set sights on €10 million-rated South American defensive talent – report | OneFootball

Real Madrid plan on signing a new central defender in the summer of 2025 after having had to deal with injuries and a lack of depth in the position for the second season in a row.

Indeed, with Nacho Fernandez leaving, Jesus Vallejo out of favour and David Alaba’s recovery from ACL injury taking much longer than expected, Carlo Ancelotti has had to make do with Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger as his only two main centre-backs.

Youngster Joan Martinez suffered an ACL injury in pre-season while Jacobo Ramon has also struggled with muscle issues.

As a result, Real Madrid have made the decision to strengthen the centre-back department in the summer, with several targets identified.

Links to the likes of Vitor Reis, Castello Lukeba, and Aymeric Laporte have been doing the rounds for some time now, but a new name has now popped up on the Spanish capital giants’ radars.

Valentin Gomez catches Real Madrid’s attention

Indeed, according to AS, Real Madrid have set their sights on Velez Sarsfield youngster Valentin Gomez as a possible alternative to reinforce their defence for next season.

Valentin Gomez (R) on Real Madrid’s radar. (Photo by Daniel Jayo/Getty Images)

Gomez has become a permanent fixture in the Velez backline despite being just 21 years old, having already made 98 first-team appearances for the Argentine outfit.

The young defensive talent has also featured ten times for the Argentine Under-20 national team as well.

As per the report, Gomez has already caught the attention of Argentine giants River Plate and Boca Juniors. Now it appears that Real Madrid have also taken note of his development.

The fact that the 21-year-old is a left-footed defender is bound to appeal to the La Liga champions while his price is estimated to be around €10 million only even though he still has more than two years left on his contract.

As mentioned earlier, though, Real Madrid have other options on their agenda as well, with Laporte, Lukeba, and Reis all being looked at. So, only time will tell which way Los Blancos will lean come summer.